Everyone knows of Eldar Guardians specifically the Defender Guardians equipped with the shuriken catapults. Now I have never been a great fan of the guardians. I think as far as troops go they are a far cry from their 2nd edition version. These days Defender Squads are just used for ablative armour for the Avatar, to increase the breakpoint of the army or to carry a weapons platform.

However one of the things that I don't often see on the table are Storm Guardians. I think that these CCW and Shuriken Pistol version of the Guardians are a LOT better because of the following reasons:

1) They are just as cheap.
2) They are more flexible.
3) They are expendable.

Both versions of the Guardians cost the same and the only difference is weaponry. A Defender Gets 2 shots and a Storm version gets one. But here the comparison ends.

I have always said that a Storm Guardian can be thought of as a cheaper Banshee. After all, they roll to hit the same and they wound the same. They just don't have power weapons. Which would mean they weren't that effective against Space Marines but would work just as well against the Guard or Orcs.

But the flexibility of the Storm Guardians come from their upgrades. First of all, they can have two Flamers or two Fusion guns. Respectively, this makes them anti-infantry and anti-tank depending on what you want them to do. In addition they can have Haywire grenades which is just as deadly as melta bombs if you ask me. Then there is the Warlock who can be equipped with Witchblades, Singing spears and can be given psychic powers.

Let me give you an example of a very small Storm Guardian squad I have designed:

For 102 points I can do any of the following:
1) Kill a mass of infantry with my three Flamers then charge the survivors.
2) Take on a Dreadnought.
3) Kill any tank in 40K with the grenades or Witchblade.

If they get killed in the process, well its only 103 points. Which makes them very expendable after they are used. Just make sure you use them to kill something worthwhile.

In fact my Storm Guardians often go after Tanks or Dreadnoughts rather than just infantry. I remember my opponent ignoring the little group as I fleet footed to his dreadnought and then swissh! slash! its dead thanks to the witchblade.

So there you have it. While they may not be as glamorous as the aspect warriors. Storm Guardians can do the job just as well as the Scorpion or the Fire Dragon for a lot less cost